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Audit Says County Bond Funds Spent Properly

Story by Andrea Kelly

last updated February 6, 2013

A state audit of Pima County’s bond programs says the county spent the money "as authorized and approved."

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The review of more than a decade of bond spending was prompted by a bill passed in the 2012 legislative session, which required the state Auditor General to audit the 1997, 2004 and 2006 voter-approved bond programs.

Bond programs must be approved by voters because they authorize the county to borrow and spend money that will be paid back with future property taxes. When voters approve a bond, they essentially agree to raise their property taxes to pay for projects such as new community centers, road work and drainage improvements.

The state audit says the county spent the money “in accordance with voter authorization on projects.”

That's what county officials have said all along, even as they were criticized by other local governments. The county often moves money from one project to another with the Bond Advisory Committee's and Board of Supervisors' approval.

Board Chairman Ramón Valadez said the audit “showed that not only did we conduct ourselves in a transparent and open public manner, but the projects that were promised through the bond program were delivered either on time or early for the most part."

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